HomeMy WebLinkAbout 08/26/2015 Public Works/Parks & Recreation Committee minutes MINUTES
PUBLIC WORKS / PARKS & RECREATION COMMITTEE
August 26, 2015
A meeting of the Public Works /Parks & Recreation Committee of the Council
of the County of Kaua`i, State of Hawai`i, was called to order by Ross Kagawa, Chair,
at the Council Chambers, 4396 Rice Street, Suite 201, Lihu`e, Kaua`i, on Wednesday,
August 26, 2015, at 8:30 a.m., after which the following Members answered the call
of the roll:
Honorable Mason K. Chock
Honorable Arryl Kaneshiro
Honorable KipuKai Kuali`i (present at 8:32 a.m.)
Honorable JoAnn A. Yukimura (present at 8:32 a.m.)
Honorable Ross Kagawa
Honorable Gary L. Hooser, Ex-Officio Member
Honorable Mel Rapozo, Ex-Officio Member
Minutes of the August 12, 2015 Public Works /Parks & Recreation Committee
Meeting.
Upon motion duly made by Councilmember Kaneshiro, seconded by
Councilmember Chock, and carried by a vote of 3:0:2 (Councilmembers Kuali`i
and Yukimura were excused), the Minutes of the August 12, 2015 Public Works
/ Parks & Recreation Committee Meeting was approved.
The Committee proceeded on its agenda item, as follows:
PWPR 2015-05 Communication (08/05/2015) from Council Chair Rapozo,
requesting the presence of the County Engineer, to provide
an update on Kapaia Swinging Bridge and the efforts of the
Administration to work with the Kapaia Foundation. (This
item was Deferred.)
Committee Chair Kagawa: Yesterday the Administration met with
Lorraine Moriguchi of the Kapaia Swinging Bridge Foundation, David Hinazumi of
Grove Farm, and Jerome "The Shadow" Freitas. The intent was to clarify the end
goal of the bridge restoration project as to ownership, maintenance responsibility,
and pertinent liability issues. Lorraine and David indicated a willingness to consider
what was discussed and will take the proposal back to their respective entities and
then they will reconvene and discuss it. The request was made by County Engineer
Larry Dill, P.E., to have some time and defer this item until October 14, 2015, by
which time they hope to have an indication from both the Foundation and Grove Farm
about a resolution of the bridge. That is a request that I would ask Members to
support.
Councilmember Kaneshiro: I was going to make a motion.
Committee Chair Chock: Let us first see if the members of the public
have testimony. Council Chair?
Council Chair Rapozo: Committee Chair, you covered it quite well.
This issue dates back to 2006 and when you look back to 2006, and you count the
PWPR COMMITTEE MEETING 2 AUGUST 26, 2015
years, it is almost unacceptable that it has taken this long to get another discussion
and proposed solution. I met with Larry yesterday and the Mayor and his team met
with the Kapaia Bridge Organization, as well as members of the public. They have a
proposed solution that I think will work well. He did ask for the deferral. It has been
since 2006, another month will not...the bridge is pretty much in a state of disrepair
that it is not going to get worse. I will not discuss what they talked about yesterday,
but I will say that it is, in my opinion, a very doable/workable resolution. I am hoping
that we can finally move forward on that project. I would ask that the deferral be
supported.
Committee Chair Kagawa: Any more discussion on this item? With that,
does anyone from the public wish to speak on this?
There being no objections, the rules were suspended.
GLENN MICKENS: As Council Chair Rapozo said, this thing has
been going on for a long time. I think it is deplorable that it drags on for this length
of time. This Kapaia Swinging Bridge issue for this length of time, which is why we
need a county manager. It is sad to see so many frustrated people continually testify
before this Council wanting action and getting none. This along with the twenty-
three (23) year old Kilauea Gym debacle and a multitude of other "no resolution"
problems would never be happening with a manager or if it did, the manager would
be fired. The current system leaves these undone problems with no one to point the
finger at and this is why we need to change it. The people pay their taxes to get
results and not have their problems get stonewalled. These people keep on coming
here to testify and see the item get deferred, deferred, deferred, and now we are going
to October and still not get any resolution. We are talking about a bridge. It cannot
be that complicated for somebody to figure it out, whether it is the Department of
Land and Natural Resources, or whoever is in charge. How can anything like this
drag on this long? I hope once and for all that we get some of these problems resolved
and not have it continually deferred. Thank you, Committee Chair Kagawa.
The meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows:
Upon motion duly made by Councilmember Kaneshiro, seconded by
Councilmember Chock, and unanimously carried, PWPR 2015-05 was deferred
to the October 14, 2015 Committee Meeting.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:36 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Darrelly 1e M. Caldeira
Council Services Assistant I
APPROVED at. he Committee Meeting held on August 26, 2015:
ROSS KAGAWA
Chair, PWPR Committee